The National Citizen Party (NCP) will not be able to use the Shapla (water lily) as its party symbol. Akhtar Ahmed, Senior Secretary of the Election Commission (EC), confirmed this while speaking to journalists at the EC office in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Tuesday (September 23).
He said that the Shapla symbol is not included in the EC’s list of 115 approved symbols. According to regulations, political parties must select symbols from the pre-approved list, so NCP will have to propose an alternative symbol.
Akhtar Ahmed added that the registration process for political parties is still ongoing, and submitted documents are being scrutinized. However, the process regarding symbols has already progressed by one step.
He also mentioned that from September 28, the EC will begin phased dialogues with civil society members, teachers, women leaders, journalists, political parties, and election experts. The schedule will consider upcoming holidays and religious festivals.
Regarding overseas voter registration, the secretary said, “It is not possible to generate news every day, but we are trying to provide regular updates to the media at every stage of election preparation.”